Area, export and kilos make or break the onion market. The first is known, but just about everyone you talk to has their own theory about the last two. Growers are more concerned with what they harvest, while sorters are more concerned about export opportunities.
The onion harvest is one with challenges. We finally have a period of solid dry weather, it is 30 degrees. In short: not ideal, but with rain in the forecast next week, it is understandable that many growers still take this opportunity to harvest and load.
Things are a bit quieter on the farm in the trade. Some say that this is because sorters already have decent positions, while others believe that exports are somewhat disappointing. What is remarkable is that relatively much information is given to growers about onions. Rightly or wrongly, they gain confidence there for the further course of the onion season; whether the buyer dares to hit it or not. "The kilos are not that bad, so trade will come," some growers reason. Whether or not the kilos are too bad varies greatly between the regions and that makes it difficult to gain insight into the total Dutch onion harvest.
Chinese competition
The fact that exports are not going smoothly is also evident from the export figures. Total exports are lagging behind last season, while major buyer Senegal has opened its borders to imports earlier. China is working against us, say several insiders. Last year, with historically high prices, they made contacts in important Dutch sales markets and those lines have been kept open. China now supplies at significantly lower prices and that certainly does not help Dutch exports. The price difference with China is so large, according to insiders, that adjusting the bale price a little is actually an option to regain market share.
Quality of the onion onions remains a point of attention. There are beautiful onion sets on the market that really have nothing wrong with them, but there is also stuff in circulation that looks good at first glance (even after drying and sorting) but which still has puddles under it over time. Some sorters are a bit careful with sowing onions because of the warm weather. If damage occurs, it is often only visible over time. "If you can leave them in the shed for a few weeks, you'll see, but drying and packaging them quickly is a gamble," according to a sorter.
De DCA quotation Bale price of Onions shows a somewhat mixed picture. For seed onions of all sizes together, an average price of just under €50 can be achieved. However, that is not the great mass. It still consists of the onion sets. And that brings you closer to €45 on average for all sizes.